Holy fuck, what time was it? Alfred scrambled for his phone, squinting at the time that popped up. It was three in the morning, and Alfred was in his school's shitty library, studying for—Alfred looked at his notes—studying for Shakespearian English, and he wanted to kill himself.

Alfred, desperate for a break for his brain, pushed back from his table, rubbing his eyes. Gilbert, across from him, had long since fallen asleep, abandoning Alfred to his studies.

"Hey," Alfred muttered, kicking Gilbert underneath the table. "Yo, Gilbo."

Gilbert started, throwing himself upwards. "I'm awake!"

Alfred squinted, taking off his glasses. "You fell asleep at eleven. It's three."

"Dude, you fuckin' missed your test."

Alfred threw his notebook at Gilbert. "In the morning! I just thought you should know. In case… I…" He gazed down at his textbook, "I don't remember why I woke you up."

His study partner collapsed back onto the table. "Well then don't."

Alfred groaned and turned his weary eyes back toward his textbook. This was terrible. This was a terrible, terrible idea. The decisions that had led Alfred to the library played through Alfred's mind; Gilbert telling Alfred about the party, Matthew visiting, Gilbert telling Alfred all-nighter studying sessions were the way to go.

Somewhere from the depths of library, a chair was dragged across the floor.

Alfred blinked and looked around. He hadn't heard any sounds from the living the last few hours. After a few minutes of silence, Alfred returned to his books.

Someone walked by the table. Alfred saw them from the corner of his eye, felt the faint breeze as they passed him.

When he looked up, everything was still.

Alfred felt his chest tighten. He kicked Gilbert once again, sucking in a gulp of air. "Gilbert, holy shit, Gilbert wake up!"

The man sat up, looking like he was one second away from launching himself across the table and throttling Alfred.

"Unless you're leaving—"

Alfred shook his head, leaning so far over the table, his nose was almost almost pressed against Gilbert's. "There's a ghost. I saw it. Gilbert, I saw it."

Gilbert looked at Alfred for a moment, looking strangely flustered. He pushed the panicking man away. "Alfred, it was probably your imagination. You've been awake since, like, six. You need to sleep."

Alfred blew air angrily though his lips, cheeks puffing up. "Gilbert, are you not listening, a ghost. You know what happened—"

Gilbert, despite himself, sneered, "I'm pretty sure falling out of a tree doesn't count as a supernatural experience."

Before Alfred could respond, the sound of something heavy and wooden hitting the ground echoed through the library. It was deathly quiet afterwards. Gilbert and Alfred stared where the noise had come from.

Gilbert turned to Alfred, a small smile on his face. "I th—Holy shit behind you!"

Alfred whipped around, letting out a manly scream. "What—what?!"

Gilbert stood, gathering Alfred's various notes and textbooks. "Nothing, nothing it's just that…" He suddenly looked up at Alfred. "It had no face."

Alfred launched himself over the table. "Jesus H. Christ and it was behind me?!" He fell onto Gilbert's side of the table, straightening and gathering his notes. "We have to get out of here!"

The two of them moved quickly through the hallway, checking behind corners and bookshelves for the ghost.

"There it is again!" Gilbert screeched, pointing behind Alfred with his free hand.

Alfred nearly threw his books everywhere. He took off running, Gilbert following behind him and yelling something, but Alfred sure as hell wasn't paying attention. He reached the library's front doors, pulling on them desperately.

Gilbert finally caught up.

"Why won't they open?!" Alfred yelled.

Gilbert looked around before scooting in close to Alfred. "Al, this is the last chance we may ever have…"

Alfred nodded. "We should kiss."

Before Gilbert could respond, Alfred grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled Gilbert in, smashing their lips together in a truly awful kiss. After a few seconds of silence Gilbert pushed Alfred away.

"You know the doors open out, not in, right?"

Alfred stared.

Gilbert laughed nervously. "Also, I might have lied about seeing something behind you."